News

Dear parents/ carers, I am delighted to be writing to you at the start of this new term to introduce Mike Piper as our new permanent headteacher at Olive AP Academy – Suffolk. Mike has joined the academy this week and is looking forward to meeting all our students and their families over the coming weeks. Of course, we would normally have invited our academy families to come into the academy for a coffee morning to meet Mike in person. However, whilst social distancing guidelines remain in place we will have to settle for a more virtual introduction! Mike joins Olive Academies having worked for the last four years as Head of Academy for the Harris Federation, one of the most successful multi-academy trusts in the country. He brings significant experience of supporting those students who find learning and school life more challenging. He is passionate about the crucial role schools can play in their community, bringing children and families together and improving lives. I hope you will join me in giving Mike a warm welcome to our Suffolk academy family. During last term many of you will have already have met and spoken with Anna Mears, our Senior Deputy Headteacher who joined the academy in March. Anna is also an experienced school leader and SENDCo, having worked in a range of different mainstream, and special schools. Anna shares our Olive Academies commitment to supporting children and young people in achieving their true potential regardless of their starting point. Mike and Anna will be working closely with Annabel Bates (Executive Headteacher) to ensure a smooth handover and continuity of care for all our students and their families over the coming months. I am proud of the experienced and skilled senior leadership team we have secured for the academy and our students. Everyone is looking forward to the academy being able to welcome all our students back into the building as soon as it is safe to do so. A welcome message from Mike Piper, Headteacher I am so pleased to be joining the academy and am really looking forward to getting to know all our students. I want the academy to be at the heart of the local community and am keen to work closely with all our students and their families. These have been very stressful times for everyone during the Coronavirus pandemic and I want to reassure you that the academy team will continue to support you and your family. You can always arrange a virtual meeting with me or book in a time for a phone call by contacting me via the academy office (01449 613931) or you can email me at info.suffolk@oliveacademies.org.uk Yours faithfully, Mark Vickers, Chief Executive, Olive Academies Mike Piper, Headteacher, Olive AP Academy – Suffolk 3 June 2020

Dear parents and carers, I wanted to write to you to let you know how all our academies are responding to the most recent government guidance issued to schools in England. The Prime Minister has asked all schools to try and re-open for Year 6, Year 10 and Year 12 pupils (and for those Year 11 students who attend alternative provision) from 1 June 2020. Like all schools and academies across the country, we are working hard to translate what this government guidance will mean for you, your child and our ways of working in our academies. I want to reassure you that at Olive Academies our priority has always been – and will always be – the safety and wellbeing of all the children and young people we support. The impact of lockdown and isolation for our students and their families has been worrying for everyone. At Olive Academies we are determined to keep all our students engaged in their learning despite the current pandemic and will continue to do all we can to support your child as we gradually and carefully welcome more students back into our academy buildings. Our support for you will not stop – whether your child is able to attend their academy or not. Our staff will continue to provide personalised support for each of our students who are staying at home with online learning, work packs and daily phone calls. We will work in partnership with you to make sure your child gets the support they need. Our staff will work with you to address any concerns you have about the new government guidance – for example, around transport arrangements or the particular needs of your child/ family. Our headteachers and their academy teams are busy adapting timetables for next term and working through detailed risk assessments for all our staff and students. Staff from your child’s academy will call you this week to talk through a detailed, individual plan for you and your child for next term. I would like to confirm that all our academies will be closed for May half term. The last day of term will be Friday 22 May and our academies will then re-open for those students who are returning on Tuesday 2 June. During the half term break each of our academy buildings will be deep cleaned and made ready for returning students. All our academy staff will be undertaking special health and safety training during an INSET day on Monday 1 June. Staff will still be available in the academies on Monday 1 June should you need to call or contact them. We will ensure that all our students who qualify for free school meals continue to receive food vouchers or meals during half term. Please let any member of our academy staff know if you need any extra support during the half term break and we will do all that we can to help you and your family. I also want to stress that support for our Year 11 students will not suddenly stop at half term. We will continue to work with our Year 11s throughout the summer to make sure they are well prepared for their next courses and apprenticeships. We will be there to help them settle into their new colleges and onto their new courses. Our students will be receiving the grades and qualifications they have worked for and deserve – even though they won’t be able to sit exams this summer. Please contact your academy headteacher if you would like any more detailed information about how exam boards are awarding grades this year. Year 11s will receive their GCSE exam results as planned on 20 August 2020. A great positive to have come out of this crisis has been seeing how creative and resilient so many of our students have been whilst staying at home. We will build on this over the coming months and help our students adjust to new routines. Thank you for all the messages of support we have received from so many of you. It means a huge amount to all our staff. Please don’t hesitate to ask anyone at Olive Academies for any advice or support you or your family may need. We will continue to do all that we can to support you. Yours faithfully, Mark Vickers, Chief Executive, Olive Academies 20 May 2020

Our students have been so creative and continue to show such resilience during these challenging times. We wanted to share with you a few photos of what our students have made in the last few weeks – students who have been independently working from home and students who have been coming into the academy. Well done everyone. We can’t wait to see what you’ll make next…

While everyone is being told to stay at home, it can be hard to know what to do if you or your child are unwell. It’s still important to get medical help if you need it. There are ways to get medical help and prescriptions online or over the phone. If you need to contact a GP, do not go into the surgery in person. You can: visit the GP surgery’s website, or use an online service to contact your GP – find your GP surgery to get its website details call your GP surgery Your GP surgery will then give you advice about what to do. A phone or video call with a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional may be booked for you. You’ll only be asked to visit the surgery if absolutely necessary. Your GP surgery may be very busy at the moment and you may have to wait longer than usual to speak to someone if it’s not urgent. YOU CAN GET MORE INFORMATION AT : https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/staying-at-home-to-avoid-getting-coronavirus/how-to-get-medical-help-from-home/

Dear parents/carers, I wanted to start with an official welcome to the start of the Summer term at Olive AP Academy – Suffolk. This is certainly a very different start to the term to the one we had planned and hoped for. We are really missing seeing all our students together in the academy. Learning for many of our students may be from home at the moment but I want you to know that our academy teachers and support staff are still here for you – and we will remain here for you and your families through these difficult times. We are committed to doing all we can to support you and our aim, as always, is to keep everyone in our academy community as safe and as well as possible. I want to thank you for everything you are doing at home. The partnership between our academy staff and parents/carers has never been more important. Please know that you can ask any member of our academy staff for advice or support whenever you need it – you can always call the academy office or email us and we can call you back. The government has supported the launch of a new free service called StarLine for any parents/carers who would like confidential advice about helping their children with home learning. They are offering tips, advice and resources on learning, wellbeing, behaviour and mental health. T: 0330 313 9162 W: www.starline.org.uk Here at the academy we are busy every day calling each of our students at home and giving them feedback on their work. The team has also been developing more new, exciting learning programmes and projects for all our students, ready for when we are able to welcome everyone back into the academy building. Yesterday the government updated their guidance on “What parents/ carers need to know about schools and education during the coronavirus outbreak”. I thought it would be helpful to share the link to this information: www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers The NSPCC has lots of good advice about how to keep young people safe online at the moment. If you would like any advice or want to understand more about the risks, do have a look at their website: www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety I wish everyone a happy weekend with plenty of rest. Stay well, look after each other and please do get in touch with us if you need anything. Best wishes Gary Haines, Associate Headteacher Friday 24 April 2020

At Olive AP Academy – Suffolk, we will be using some of the new resources from the BBC and the Oak National Academy to support your children with their learning. Mr Guilbert has created special guides to help parents and carers understand how we will be using these resources to teach your children and how you can help. Once you’ve watched the guides and tried the websites out, if you have any questions, please do let us know. We will also be in touch with you regularly to check how it’s going! We look forward to working with our students and hearing what they think of these materials.

Parents and carers of our students who receive free school meal vouchers may find this FAQ document from the DfE helpful – it explains how to use eCodes and choose the right eGift card for you. As always, if you have any queries or need to talk to anyone at the academy, you can also email us – info.suffolk@oliveacademies.org.uk.

Dear parent/ carer, I hope everyone is staying well as we try to adjust to these challenging times. I wanted to check in again with you and let you know that the academy is still open every day (Monday to Friday) and will be staying open for what would have been the Easter holidays. The only dates our academy will be closed is on the Bank Holidays, Friday 10 April and Monday 13 April. If you or your child need any advice or support, please do not hesitate to email us info.suffolk@oliveacademies.org.uk. The office staff can make sure you can reach any teacher or member of our team. All of our students who are unable to come into the academy at the moment will continue to receive a phone call or text message every day from a member of our staff during the Easter break. For those of our students who are eligible for free school meals, we will also be continuing to offer vouchers to purchase food in supermarkets during the Easter break. Please ask any member of our academy staff for more details about this offer. I know that our Year 11s and their families are keen to hear what the government is planning for those students who will not now be taking exams this summer. The government has promised to update parents, students and schools before Easter and as soon as we have this information, I will share it with those students affected. Please be assured that our support for Year 11s will not stop – and we are already in regular discussions to ensure that smooth transitions into their apprenticeships and college courses continues for all our Year 11s. The government has asked us to highlight new guidance for families about staying safe online. These are some useful links to organisations that can support you and your children whilst online at home: Internet matters– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online (internetmatters.org) London Grid for Learning– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online (lgfl.net/online-safety/) Net-aware– for support for parents and careers from the NSPCC (net-aware.org.uk) Parent info– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online (parentinfo.org) Thinkuknow– for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online (www.thinkuknow.co.uk) UK Safer Internet Centre– advice for parents and carers (www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers) The full government guidance for all families can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers Remember that you can now also receive free GOV.UK Coronavirus Information Service updates via WhatsApp – simply add 07860 064422 in your phone contacts and then message the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to get started. As everyone becomes tired and sometimes frustrated with the current ‘stay at home’ government advice, please don’t let you children be tempted to go out with their friends. If we are to lessen the impact of Coronavirus on all of us, it is so important that we all keep to current government guidelines. Remind your children they can talk to academy staff about any worries they have and get advice about how to stay active and well even when we are staying at home. Suffolk County Council (www.suffolk.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/) has set up a service called ‘Home, but not alone’. It’s a new community service supporting people who need help during the pandemic; the service connects people who want to volunteer in their communities with neighbours who are most in need. You can find out more here: www.suffolk.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/council-news/show/home-but-not-alone There is also a helpline for anyone who needs support: 0800 876 6926 (9am – 5pm, seven days a week). Citizens Advice Mid Suffolk are also encouraging families to contact them by phone or via their website, if you have any problems with employment, benefits, debt or any other financial issues at the moment. There is no charge for their advice and support. You can contact them at T: 01449 676060 / 01449 676280 or W: www.midsuffolkcab.org.uk/contact-us/ I will stay in touch with you and write to you again soon. We are continuing to regularly update our academy website (www.apsuffolk.oliveacademies.org.uk) with news and information for you. Please do not hesitate to contact any of us at the academy if you need any help or advice. We are always here for you and your family. Yours sincerely, Gary Haines, Associate Headteacher T: 01449 613931 E: info.suffolk@oliveacademies.org.uk